Airbus intervention plan: from monitoring to the rescue of suppliers, through the support.

In a report published in The Manufacturer, the different types of intervention by Airbus are explained by Mr. Günter Butschek Airbus COO.

While operational support is common, it’s unusual for Airbus to provide financial support to suppliers. Most of Airbus suppliers are tier one companies of a critical mass “The base assumption is that our suppliers are in a stable financial condition,” says Mr Butschek.

But Airbus does not take this entirely for granted.“Financial capability gets intensely discussed and monitored, by a kind of ‘watch tower’. We monitor whatever financial information is accessible and available to us, so we get an early warning in case a supplier might experience some financial issues or get into financial trouble.”

If this happens Butschek says a case-by-case decision is made as to what extent Airbus will support the supplier. “There are plenty of opportunities before it comes to the worst,” he states.

 

But far more suppliers have struggled to comfortably keep pace with the rate increase, than have had financial issues.

“We carefully monitor the performance of the suppliers. We perform regular audits to gain a deep understanding of what are the weaknesses and strengths –and what is our contribution to the problem? Butschek says.

Having analysed the specific supplier situation, Airbus sets up a comprehensive set of actions where the ‘problem suppliers’ issues have the most commonality.

 “We always hold the supplier accountable but we offer our support and we even make our support mandatory if required” Günter Butschek

 

 

Based on the article “Airbus UK: Demand and supply” published in “The manufacturer”